WEBVTT SHOULD DO INSTEAD.IT IS NEW AT 6:00.MALLORY: I THINK IT’S SAFE TOTHIS IS WHAT A SWARM LOOKS LIKE.IT MAY BE HANGING FROM A TREE ORJIM TEDDER IS A BEEKEEPER WHOHE SAYS A SWARM CAN BE MADE UPTHEY’RE TYPICALLY ACTIVE BETWEENBUT IF YOU SEE ONE, DON’T PANICCALL A BEEKEEPER, LIKE TEDDER,>> WHAT THEY DO WHEN THEY SWARMSO THEY’RE EXTREMELY FULL.THEY REALLY CAN’T STING, ANDTHEY’VE GOT SCOUTS OUT LOOKINGSO THERE’S NO REASON TO BEMALLORY: IT’S ESTIMATED THATACCORDING TO STUDIES, BEEKEEPERS>> THERE IS A LOT OF PESTS ANDARE KILLED THAT WAY.MALLORY: YOU CAN FIND A LIST OFREPORTING IN WINSTON-SAL

We’re just days away from the first day of Spring and as temperatures start to warm up, local beekeepers are warning folks that you may start to see swarms of honey bees pop up on your property.

The swarm may be hanging from a tree or some kind of structure. If you see one, don’t panic or call an exterminator. Call a beekeeper instead.

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Jim Tedder is a beekeeper who lives in Winston-Salem. He said a swarm can be made up of anywhere between 15,000 and 25,000 bees. They’re typically active between March and May, but they can continue to swarm well into the summer.

“What they do when they swarm is they take all of the honey out of the hive, they gorge themselves with it and they go with the queen and looking for a new place,” Tedder said. “They’re extremely full. They can’t really sting and they’re not interested in stinging because they’re not protecting a hive. They’ve got scouts out looking for a new place. So, there’s no reason to be afraid of them and definitely no reason to take drastic measures against them because they’re important.”

It’s estimated that one-third of the food we eat every day relies on pollination from honey bees. According to studies, beekeepers lost more than 44% of their colonies between April 2015 and March 2016.

“There are a lot of pests and diseases and things, but the pesticides that have come out, particularly the mosquito sprays, they wholesale kill every insect,” Tedder said. “Lots of hives are killed that way.”

Click here to see a list of local beekeepers to call if you see a swarm of honey bees.